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White collar crime up by 76%

Published on 11 Jan 2010 under category: legal

Instances of white collar fraud crimes increased by more than three quarters last year.

This is according to a new study by accountancy company BDO.

The figures showed a rise of 76 per cent in fraud crimes reported by UK firms in 2009 when compared to the previous year.

Almost £2.1 billion was lost by companies, which is the highest amount since BDO began publishing annual statistics in 2003.

Simon Bevan, head of fraud at BDO, said: "Based on my experience of the two previous recessions, I expect that reported fraud will treble over the next two years. There has always been a lag effect, with reported fraud continuing to rise for at least a couple of years after businesses start to come out of the recession."

He added that fraudulent borrowing will make up a large part of this predicted increase.

White collar crimes can include fraud, insider trading and embezzlement.

If you require advice on Corporate Fraud please call us on +44 (0)20 7831 0101 and ask for Dan Hyde.